


Contour

by chaos_head13



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, I Don't Even Know, I always wanted to try a vampire fic, Levi's got a bad mouth, M/M, Vampires, Vampires are technically dead so should I tag major character death?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-27
Updated: 2014-05-31
Packaged: 2018-01-02 19:18:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1060588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaos_head13/pseuds/chaos_head13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren has been in a cage for almost as long as he could remember - just because half his blood was what it shouldn't have been. All he has left of freedom is the reprise that killing the undead half of his own blood loans him. But when vampire Levi pursues him for the murders that he's committed, Eren questions which part of himself is the true monster. The human or vampire side? RIREN AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The yearn for freedom

CHAPTER 1: The yearn for freedom

Eren didn't really remember his parents. He remembered their kindness and smiles – the warm pats on his head. He remembered the smell of freshly baked bread when he had returned home from school when he was young – but Eren could never form in his mind the actual events that gave memories shape. The only memories that he could picture came after their death – of the villagers that circled him with knives and axes in their hands. How they had dumped pig's blood on his head, bucket after bucket, taunting him and asking: why didn't he drink it? Why did he not lap it up from the ground, lick it off his hands and face like the mutt he was?

Eren had looked at them with those bright green eyes of his that were blurred with blood and tears and told them honestly, just like any eight year old would. It was gross. So of course he wouldn't drink it. How stupid of them to think he would. Yet still, he asked them: why they were doing this? Why was his house was burning behind them? Where were his mum and dad?

And they laughed. They laughed and chortled and giggled.

Until Eren stood up and silenced them.

RIREN

Eren never really knew how to define freedom. He had once believed that 'freedom' was the air outside his his cage. But when he had stepped out, chains still binding him to his guard, his belief was quickly shattered – so he asked. What was freedom?

“It's something you can't have, Jaegar.”

Eren leaned his head between the bars of his cage, staring towards the direction of the man sitting on a chair with his legs crossed by the door on the opposite wall: Jean Kirstein. One of Eren's routine guards – he didn't like him much though the man had the decency to call him by his name and have a conversation.

“I wasn't asking you, horse-face.” Eren retorted, turning to a black-haired girl leaning against the wall beside Jean. “Mikasa?”

The girl with the red scarf and cold eyes was Eren's favourite guard to date – both for the fact that she always gave straight, believable answers and that Eren had known her since she was a child. He could still remember when Mikasa had first wandered down to his dungeon, wondering what the Garrison could have possibly be hiding there. She had been so small then, so unafraid. And though she had grown taller than him in the decade and a half since he first saw her, that fearlessness still remained the same. For that, Eren would remain grateful.

“I don't know the answer to that, Eren.” She pulled the red scarf she always kept of her face. Eren had given it to her; it had been a dirty old thing that he had picked up on his few visits outside, but the girl treasured it dearly. “It's not something I can explain, you have to experience it for yourself.”

Eren let out a groan at that, sliding to the concrete floor of his dungeon. “Well, I can't really do that seeing how I'm stuck fifty feet underground behind steel bars”.

Mikasa began to walk towards Eren's cage, earning a shout of protest from Jean that was ignored. She pulled her scarf off, pushing it through the bars and onto Eren's neck as she crouched down to meet him eye level. “I'm sure one day they'll let you out indefinitely, Eren. They can't keep you here forever.”

“Hell yeah, they ca--” Jean began to interject, freezing at the glare that Mikasa sent his way soon afterwards. The door opened to interrupt and reveal a blond-haired soldier- Armin Arlert, another one of Eren's favourites – carrying a tray of food. Eren's green eyes immediately lit up at the sight of him.

“Armin! It's lunch-time already?”

The blond-haired boy smiled at Eren with a nod of his head. “Yes, same as yesterday though – rice porridge and bread – if you don't mind.” 

Eren shrugged as Armin approached him, tray in hand. He opened a little slider at the base of the cage's door and slipped the tray in. Eren immediately picked up the bowl to slurp up the porridge.

“Eats as a pig as always.” Jean offhandedly commented. 

“Pigs are considered cleaner animals than horses.” Eren threw back, earning a small chuckle from the blond-haired soldier. Armin sat down in front of Eren from the other side of the bars, opening a book as the green-eyed boy ate. “I found another book you might like, Eren.”

Eren's eyes lit up again as Armin turned the cover towards him, reading it slowly aloud to supplement Eren's almost non-existent reading skills.

“The...Ocean...?”

Armin smiled. “That's right. It's this huge body of water that covers the Earth.”

Eren's eyes widened as he bit into his bread. “Even more than the land?”

Armin nodded. “Plus it's really salty but fish can still live in it.”

The green-eyed boy's eyes widened further. “But won't they dry up?”

Jean snorted. “As if.”

Eren finished the majority of his meal, downing half his cup of water before going for the last item on his tray: a decent sized vial with red liquid filling it to the top. He popped the cork, swirling the warm liquid once before downing it in one go. Some of it dribbled down his chin as the sweet taste clouded his mind for less than second; he put down the vial, satisfied. 

“Gross. Y'know it's only when you do that, that I get reminded that you're not really human. Anytime else and I'd think you were just some obnoxious criminal.” Jean said, scrunching up his nose in distaste.

Eren pushed his tray back against the bars so that Armin could remove it. “Well, I can't really help it, did you really think that being half vampire did nothing for me at all, ass hole?”

The green eyed male wiped his mouth with his arm, removing any food stains that remained. He glared at the brunette still seated at the wall. Jean returned his glare but didn't say anything else.

Armin clapped his hands together to gain Eren's attention. “I have about six more minutes before I have to head back upstairs, do you want me to start reading the book, Eren?” 

The half-vampire nodded, crossing his legs on the concrete as Armin flipped the book open and began to read. He rested his chin against his palm, closing his eyes for six minutes until the words stopped and footsteps retreated from his cage. He kept his eyes closed listening to the silence and imaging a world where salty water expanded horizons. It was all he could do in his dungeon when he felt that neither Jean nor Mikasa was really in a mood to talk – picture the world outside that he had never really seen, He had done it for the last...Eren began to count the nicks that he had made on the cement floor...one hundred years since the Garrison had found him. And it was the only thing he was really allowed to do until his next mission.

RIREN

“Hey, mutt!”

Eren opened his eyes, pushing his upper body off the wooden board that he called a bed. He blinked away sleep, squinting at the figure that was neither Jean, Mikasa nor Armin. 

“What...?”

He heard a creak and his sight was blinded with white light as he saw a hand reach out at him. The half-vampire was yanked from his bed, chains snapping onto both hands and legs. 

“Get the your lazy ass the fuck up. We've got something we need you to do.” The man spat at him as he dragged Eren out of his cell and up two flights of stairs, uncaring at the small whimpers of pain that came from his limbs scraping against the rough cement. Blurred, he could see Mikasa and Jean following behind, the girl with murderous intent written in her eyes but unable to do anything and the horse with the expression horses usually had. Just more downtrodden.

Eren was thrown onto even more concrete, though this time he was allowed to stand himself up to face a series of men. He recognized them to be the highest order of the Garrison: the rank officers of the Vampire hunters. Or the military police they called themselves.

“Eren Jaegar, there's something we need you to do.”

“Isn't that what you always drag me out for?” Eren snorted under his breath, though he paid attention to the speaking officer.

The half-vampire recognized the man who spoke to be Dot Pixis. The years had not been kind to the man since Eren had last saw him, already wrinkles were marring once young skin and his hairline was quite literally non-existent now. The last time Eren had saw him, the name Dot Pixis had belonged to a young man still fighting to rise up the ranks. How bright-eyed the man used to be, Eren thought, looking at the stone wall clothed in military attire.

“Sir?” the half-vampire lowered his head to his human superior, straightening his posture and putting his legs and arms together as he was taught. There was a murmur of approval at his act of subordination.

“We have information on a gathering of vampires that will be taking place exactly 72 hours from now. It will be located two cities over and we've estimated about thirty vampires will most likely be present.”

Eren nodded his head in acknowledgement of the information.

“The plan is simple, we'll send you inside and your job is simply to try to kill any vampire you see on sight, do you understand?”

The half-vampire nodded his head once again. He looked up at Pixis. “And the terms?”

The bald man answered easily. “Five hours for every vampire you kill.”

Eren's eyes widened in determination and he grinned, splitting his face with sheer blood-thirsty happiness. Thoughts of murder began to run through his mind – five hours for every kill.

Five hours of freedom for every kill.

Five hours times thirty.

Eren continued smiling. He was going to exterminate them all.

RIREN

“Explain to me Hange, why you fucking decided to throw this shit party in this big-ass house when we're supposed to be laying low for the next decade?” Levi growled at his brown haired companion by the doorway. Hange chortled, flicking her hair upwards along with her chin to look down at her black-haired companion. It wasn't all that hard though, given his height.

“Because, Levi, darling, it's Christmas and your two hundredth birthday! We should celebrate! Not have you sulk in the that dark cellar of yours doing who know what!”

The raven snorted at the woman's poor attempt of acting noble with her shit posture and expensive dress. He would never admit that she actually looked good the light-blue flowing dress; Levi would bite his tongue off before giving the woman approval. “My room is much cleaner than this disgusting place you rented.” He wiped a finger on the surface of one of the polished wooden dressers in his room, a thick layer of dust coming off it. 

“Disgusting,” Levi commented, wiping his hand off with disposable wipe that he procured. Hange strode over to the raven-haired male, dragging him out the room despite his protests. She only let him go when they were out in the hallway, though she still pushed him towards the direction of the main hall.

“Two hundred years, one-hundred seventy since you've become a vampire and you still haven't found your mate, Levi. You're like the equivalent of what humans would call a thirty-year old virgin!” Hange laughed, slowing her stride so that she matched Levi's shorter one– a gesture that very much pissed him off and caused him to walk faster.

“Your point being?” Levi retorted, slowing down as they approached a spiral staircase that descended to the grand-hall. Hange turned around to face him as they entered the stair's balcony, revealing what could be more than fifty people below. 

“I've invited human and vampires and alike, just for you, Levi!” She gave the shorter man a wink. “Who knows, you might be able to find your significant other tonight! And then you can drink to your hearts delight until he or she ends up undead like you!”

Levi shuddered at the crazy glint that began to enter Hange's eyes, he backed away slightly to no avail as the woman grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him close enough to feel her breath on his face. “Their blood is really delicious, Levi! REALLY, REALLY DELICIOUS!”

Hange let in a staggering breath, her eyes beginning to roll up her head. Obviously she was thinking about the taste of Erwin's blood. Levi felt sick at the thought of the mess the two of them tended to cause when they became crazy for each other. Blood on all the walls and floors like a crimson orgy.

“It's unsanitary drinking from a live human being,” Levi said. “You don't know where they've been.”

Hange tsked, biting the nail of her thumb. “You're so picky! I've hand chosen every one of these people. They've been screened for diseases and everything.”

Levi shrugged, descending down the stairs. “That doesn't say anything about their habits. If I see even one person exiting the bathroom without washing their hands, I'll be gone.”

He heard an exasperated sigh as he continued down to the grand-hall. Hange knew that Levi had no intention of socializing at all, and she was right. The first thing the raven-haired man did was grab an unopened bottle of wine from the table and head towards the ledge of a tall window at the furthermost corner of the room. At the sight of some brat occupying it already, Levi grumbled – he wasn't about to let his chosen space of freedom go just yet though. 

“Oi, brat!” he shouted at the figure of a gangly boned brat in a poorly fitted tuxedo. From the smell of him, the boy was human. The kid didn't turn to look at him – for some reason, he was too occupied with pressing his face against the window, peering outside at the snow or whatever was out there.

“Hey, you little shit, I'm talking to you!” Levi shouted again, this time successfully garnering the boys attention with a shocked snap of his neck. Wide, teal-green coloured eyes turned his way along with the boys upper torso which seemed a lot thinner than most boys his age – around the age 16-18 was Levi's guess.

“That's my spot you've taken.” Levi said, gesturing to the ledge the kid was seated on. The teenager seemed dumbfounded by Levi's revelation but, instead of leaving, he just scooted over to the side. 

“There's room to sit over there.” He gestured at an ample amount of space beside him. “That should be enough, right? You're pretty small so I don't think you need much.”

Levi twitched, a nerve popping in his forehead as he strode closer to the brat and picked him off the ledge by the fabric of his neck. He dropped the kid on the floor and proceeded to sit on the window space, propping his feet up so that his body took up the entire area. The kid looked slightly disgruntled and he glared momentarily at Levi before returning his gaze out the window from his place on the floor.

With a closer look, Levi could see that the boy's skin was a grisly pale shade as if he had hardly seen the light of day in his life-time. At the same time, his face was gaunt and the teal-green eyes that was very close to the colour of the ocean seemed to grey when under the shadow of his messy brown hair.

“Kid, where you from?” Levi enquired, thinking that it wouldn't hurt to know who the fuck the brat was. He could count this as socializing if Hange asked.

The brown-haired boy tilted his view to look at the raven, his interest seemingly peaked by the man. 

“I don't know,” he answered.

Levi's eyes narrowed at the reply. “The fuck do you mean, you don't know?”

The kid blinked at the rough response. “I can't remember.”

Levi examined the boy's eyes for dilation, looking for any signs that he was drunk or high. There wasn't any. “What's your name?” Levi tried for another question. This time with a successful answer.

“Eren.” 

Eren answered without a single hesitation, showing no wariness of the stranger known as Levi. Nor any other emotion other than the wide eyed curiosity. Obviously the kid wasn't in his right mind.

“Alright, Eren. Why in shit's name are you looking out the window? There's nothing but snow outside.”

“I haven't seen snow for a long time,” was Eren's answer. This made Levi scowl even more. The first conclusion Levi made at the response was that Eren was from a Southern country that didn't have snow. But then the paleness of his skin disputed that – it was much too light. Levi was about to ask another question when Eren added another bit to his answer.

“Mikasa told me I'd see the signal from this window too, so I have to keep watch for that.”

“Signal?” Levi repeated, the identity of this boy was making him uncomfortable, if it did not already did before.

Eren pointed to the bottom of the window. “A bright light is supposed to come from there.” He raised his finger up slowly. “And rise up to the top and then boom.”

The brat smiled. “Then I get to kill you all.”

Levi put down his bottle of wine that he had forgotten that he even had. The kid's smile had twisted disturbingly; the grey-eyed man reached for the long-knife that he kept hidden in his suit's jacket.

“You better be out of your fucking mind and joking kid, before I slit that throat of yours.” Levi threatened, his hand already tightened around his weapon. Honestly, he should have brought a gun, but Hange was insistent with her no firearms rule: she didn't want to scare the guests.

Eren didn't even flinch at the threat, continuing to watch the window until it lit up. A flare was rising in the sky and it exploded just as predicted, showering the room with blinding light. Levi saw the boy bite into his hand, his eyes changing as he did before the light blinded him as well. Eren used the opportunity to make his escape from Levi, turning towards the confused mix of vampire and humans.

It was a bloodbath after that.

The aqua eyed boy made his moves with fearsome agility, procuring a twin set of knives to slaughter his victims. One by one, they fell to their grinning assailant – his favourite method of murder being a simple stab to the neck – just one stab if they were human, and another one to the heart if they were not. Every animated living and non-living being scrambled to the door pulling and pushing it and trying every method to open the immovable door. It was a grand exit made with a mix of wood and steel, crafted in the 1800s and restored later on like the rest of the mansion Hange rented. No matter how much the people slammed their fists on it, it remained solid. 

And with the way they crowded in front of the exit, they were like lambs to the slaughter.

“Five hours! Ten hours! Twenty-five hours! Sixty!”

Levi was able to locate Eren by following the loud counting that he made with every being that fell under his blade. When the vampire spotted the boy, he raised his own blade, dashing with pinpoint precision towards the murdering figure. Eren spotted him just before Levi reached and was just able to dodge a fatal stab to his neck. Levi's knife dug into Eren's shoulder, coming clean out of his arm as the boy jumped away.

“I was going to kill you last since you were the only one who talked to me,” Eren said. “Not very many people do that.”

“Oh ho, you really think that a shit-face brat like you could kill me?” Levi chuckled at the boy's brass before remembering just what the monster in front of him had done. Both human and vampire corpses were littered around him – all under the fault of the one kid with green eyes. His face immediately turned grim, his glare piercing into Eren's similar expression. Levi raised his knife, going once more for the kill. He was surprised when Eren lifted his arm – the same arm that Levi had just disabled moments before – to block him.

The raven had to twist away to dodge one of Eren's own attacks. At the corner of his eye, he saw Hange ushering the crowd away from the main entrance and towards the side. Levi remembered in passing that Hange had told him that she had rented a house with a secret exit – bravo for her, at least she could be sensible in some situations. Erwin was with her, assisting with the escape. He turned to Levi, with a shout.

“There are hunters outside!!”

That was all Levi needed to know to understand. He locked eyes with Eren. “So you're with the Garrison, aren't you?”

At this point though, the brat was no longer paying attention to the immediate threat in front of him. His eyes were turned towards the escaping crowd and he seemed to have drawn the same conclusion on the separate exit. Eren began muttering under his breath with every being that seemed to escape from his sight.

“Fivehoursfivehoursfivehourfivehoursfivehours.”

Like a mantra, Eren repeated the two words, forgetting that Levi was there and beginning to dash towards the crowd. Erwin steadied himself to intervene with the monster that was rushing towards him, but Levi caught up much more quickly, tackling Eren to the ground. The boy was still muttering to himself, something that disturbed the vampire greatly.

With the boy pinned, the first thing that Levi did was tear away the fabric around the injuries that the raven knew that he himself made. There was nothing but smooth skin – not even a scar. He flipped Eren over, using his weight on the boy's torso to keep him down and a grip on both wrists to keep him steady. The kid still smelled human.

“The fuck are you?” 

Levi was torn between the decision of keeping the boy alive for further inspection or using the chance to slit his throat. He deigned on the first, though he was quite in favour of the idea of chopping the boy's limbs off so he'd no longer be able to move. That is, until Eren's attention turned to him again. Unable to move his arms and legs, the brat used the only weapon he had left to his disposal: his teeth. 

With vicious abandon, Eren bit into Levi's forearm. It was enough to cause the vampire to flinch in pain, but there wasn't much Levi could do since both arms were being used to keep Eren's down. Blood dribbled down Levi's arm as Eren ground his teeth, biting repeatedly and constantly so that the vampire had no time to heal. 

Levi grumbled at his situation, reluctant to have to use his own last weapon. But with the way Eren was gnawing at his arm, it wouldn't be long until it was down to the bone.

“You better be clean, kid.” Levi grumbled as he leaned his head over and bit Eren right at the base of his neck. The surprise of the attack made the younger male falter in his own fury. Levi's plan was just to let the kid bleed out until he was too weakened to make any decent attacks. His plan did not involve drinking any of the kid's blood, cause who knew where he had been and Levi never drank from live victims. He was fine with the blood bags that Erwin got him from hospitals – because at least they were screened and tested for crap like diseases and pathogens.

But Jesus Christ, how could one person's blood taste like all of Levi's favourite things at once?

Levi took another bite, lapping and slurping at the blood that poured from Eren's neck. It was semi-sweet with slight bitterness that suited perfectly to the vampire's tastes. He wanted more and he would have had it, if the windows of the entire grand hall hadn't all broken simultaneously.

Hunters, seven of them – one for each window toppled into the room, all of them wielding guns. A dangerous situation for Levi. 

“Eren!” 

One of the hunters, a girl wearing a red scarf with black hair that matched his own raised her gun to shoot at the vampire while at the same time rushing forward at him. Levi looked down at Eren who had evidently passed out from blood loss.

Oops, Levi thought. He wasn't very worried though, seeing how the wound began to heal almost immediately as his lips left it. Levi still needed to figure out why that was, seeing how the boy still smelled very much human.

The gash Eren had made on the vampire's forearm had healed as well. All the hunters began to circle Levi, their focus on Levi alone proof that Hange and Erwin had made it out fine.

The vampire jumped off Eren, picking him up with ease and swinging his body at the red-scarfed hunter. She immediately stopped in her tracks to catch the boy despite the trajectory throwing her off her feet. The other hunters focused on the vampire, all of them raising their guns at him. He could easily tell that the majority of them were fresh trainees though – not used to actual battles at all. Levi used that to his advantage, glaring at them with such ferocity that even hardened soldiers would have flinched back. He jumped towards one of the windows to make his exit, the amateurs shooting him with aims that were far off mark.

The window that Levi chose landed him on the roof with a fine view of a front courtyard and a back garden – Hange really left out no expense renting the place. From his birds-eye view, he could see hunters swarming the grounds, waiting for vampires to rush out the doors to try to escape. They would wait for nought.

Levi wiped his chin with his hand, licking the last of Eren's blood away. It really was delicious. The boy was a mystery and the vampire admitted that it was a shame that he couldn't take the kid with him. He needed to punish the boy for the murders as well. But, with all the hunters gathered, the body would be nothing but a dead weight that would get him caught. And that couldn't be afforded.

The vampire pressed himself against the roof, under the eyes of the moon. There was no doubt that the hunters inside thought that he was long gone; outside, they probably weren't smart enough to survey the roof either. There was a high chance he'd be spotted though, if he left now. Levi pulled his suit closer to himself.

What a shitty birthday, he thought. He'd be sure to give Hange hell for it later.

 

RIREN

“Eren, why do you keep sucking on your shirt?”

The half-vampire had woken up only an hour after passing out, still dressed in the ill-fitted tuxedo that Jean had loaned him for the occasion. Transport was taking longer than usual in the snow and Eren was restless.

“Are you hungry, Eren?”

Eren looked over at Mikasa on the other side of the transport truck. She took out bag of blood from a cooler and handed it over to the half-vampire. He refused the offer, still sucking at a blood-stain on his dress-shirt. Mikasa offered him a loaf of bread next.

“Geez, Mikasa! I'm not hungry, really!”

Yet Eren continued to suck on the stain on his shirt. It was the blood that had dribbled onto him from that one vampire with the grey eyes – the short one, Eren remembered. The blood had long dried, but the taste of it, though subdued was still there. It was as if all of Eren's favourite foods had been blended together but all their individual tastes had remained, flowering in his mouth with every suck. It tasted like the bread that his mother made him when he was young, the candy that his father would sneak him right before dinner – everything that was tasty and warm. 

Eren looked at the food and blood that Mikasa had offered him, his stomach grumbling a little though he really didn't feel hungry. Or rather, he didn't have an appetite for anything else anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the Christmas massacre.

Eren clutched at the arms of a wooden chair, flexing his muscles as much as he was allowed to against his restraints. Metal shackles bound him to his seat, the coldness of the steel burning dully at his wrists and ankles. The thin cotton of his pyjamas - outdated military sleepwear from over two decades ago did nothing to shield his from the frigid cold of an empty room. As for the reason the boy was here, he hadn’t a clue.

This was an “audit.” That was all the half-breed was told.

“Eren Jaeger.”

The bound creature twitched at the sound of his name, staring into the darkness. From what his eyes could see, he was still alone. There was nothing to keep him company in the cold other than his chair and the four walls that he didn’t even know the colour of. Eren could see nothing even as he squinted into the dark, his neck straining to sense any shimmer of movement. His previous audit - a good decade and a half ago - had been just like this one. They had tried to disorient him with darkness and silence as they questioned his actions during his mission. But, this time something was off.

Previously, there had always been people in the room with him: a couple to question and another to punish him should his answers be less than satisfactory. This time there was none. A disembodied laugh from above mocked Eren’s thoughts forcing him to jerk his head up in attempt to find the source of the voice.

“Don’t worry on finding where we are, Eren. It’s a little magic of human technology. It allows us to speak with you without being in your presence. Additionally, we can hear and see everything you do.”

Eren scowled, recognizing the speaker to be the Dot Pixis: the very man who promised his time at his mission’s end exactly two weeks ago.

“What the fuck did I do wrong?” Eren hissed into the silence. His eyes wandered the darkness, unsure where to land. “I killed the vampires like you told me to, didn’t I?”

The brunette heard a spatter of voices, all of them filled with indignation and hatred at his inquiry. It was a familiar tone though,after all, there were few exceptions to those who treated him with fear. Eren recognized one voice though: Kitts Verman. At the thought of the sunken eyed man, second in command to Pixis, Eren scowled. The soldier, with no exception, hated it when he was outside his cage, mission or not. Before Pixis had usurped him, Verman had been more than content to leave him to rot in the Garrison’s basement.

“It has come to our attention that you murdered quite a few humans in your killing spree, Eren.”

The half-breed frowned. Pixis seemed to be the one dominating the audit; but, Eren didn’t know if the thought brought him comfort. Despite the man’s cool demeanour, the hybrid could never read what went on in his mind. Unlike Verman, whose every action was governed by anxiety and fear, Pixis always seemed content with the way things went regardless of whether they were in his favour or not.

“They weren’t human,” Eren said, calling up the memory of the night of the massacre. He pushed aside the image of a grey eyed man to examine the guests at the party. The humans had been intermingling - happily and contently - with the vampires. As though they were friends.

And it felt so wrong.

Humans feared vampires: they killed them, experimented, and maimed them. And to vampires, humans were nothing but food - and those that went willingly to them were nothing more than animals lined up to be slaughtered: livestock. They weren’t meant to walk the same ground without division. If ever they did, only monstrosities would come out of their union. Monstrosities like him.

“They were swine,” Eren grit out. “Animals in the form of humans”

Another sound of outrage spilled into the darkness, and Pixis responded: “Eren…”

“Eren, Eren, Eren,” he chanted. The half-vampire could almost see the man shake his head with every word. In fact, he heard a little clatter of metal signalling that the man had taken a swig from his hip along flask. “Humans aren’t like vampires. Not at all.”

Despite the words echoing in the darkness, Eren felt as though Pixis was murmuring. Doing that thing that he had a habit of doing whenever Eren saw him chastise a soldier’s wrong doing: standing in front of him, his hands folded behind his back, shoulders forward as though looking at a grave. 

“Humans are very, very different from vampires,” he repeated. “They can be saved. Their souls are salvageable. That’s why what you did was terribly wrong Eren.” Pixis paused for a moment, as though in contemplation. “I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to pay for this infraction Eren. You’re time outside will have to be reduced. And of course, an immediate punishment.” 

Eren felt a rise of panic and he opened up his mouth to speak, trying to fight against the bonds as well. “Wh—“

But, just as the first syllable left him, he felt a jolt travel though his body from his shackles on his wrist. It silenced him, leaving the man both in pain and confusion.

“That…” Pixis began to explain. “is another human invention. It’s called an electric chair. Rather amazing, isn’t it?”

Eren’s confusion hadn’t at all diminished by the soldier’s brief explanation. The back of his mind entertained a dead memory of his father excitedly trying to have his son envision the imaginative conventions of a city beyond their village: where people could light up rooms in a flick of a finger. Before long, the memory was quickly clouded by another shock that ran through his arms. He barely registered that Pixis was still talking.

“Of course, we modified it quite a bit to fit our purposes. It’ll send concentrated shocks from the shackles on your wrists,” the man continued. “It’s only damage your arms a bit, but those heal quite easily, don’t they?”

Eren muttered a protest, feeling every single hair on both his arms stand to attention before they shrivelled away in the heat of another shock.Thankfully, the rest of his body only felt a paralyzing tingle, but as he watched the skin of his arms begin to dry, turn bronze then black, panic alongside pain began to set in. He could taste blood at the back of his throat as it slid bile up to intermingle with the iron-filled liquid that slid down from the bite on his tongue that swallowed his scream.

He muttered swears to himself as his mind began to consume itself by the pain of his crumbling arms and cracking skin. His curses were no consolation; they did nothing to save him. Nor did anything or anyone else.

“Let this be a reminder, Eren.” Pixis concluded the “audit.” The sound of him taking another swig followed by a gulp and chuckle was the man’s only pause. “That a dog should not harm its master’s kind.”

RIREN

The first time that Levi returned to what had been dubbed the Christmas massacre, he was three parts frozen, hungry, and frankly in a murderous mood. That boy - brat, idiot, shithead, not Eren, because he didn’t deserve Levi to call him by his name, was going to die. Dozens of vampires out of the already dwindling species had died that day and already - just weeks later - people were writing papers on how the pseudo “cold-war” between humans and vampires had finally erupted into a full out conflict after almost a century. Sure, there had been moments where the odd vampire had been killed or captured by the garrison, but usually the group had a debatable reason for their attacks. Whether it be that the vampire had been too close to a human settlement, thus breaking the interspecies treaty or unwillingly feeding from a human, there was always a reason.

But, not this time. 

The massacre had occurred near midnight on December 24th 2013, on Levi’s birthday where all those in attendance were willing participants. The manor had been exactly 10 miles from the nearest human settlement, thus fulfilling the minimum requirements of a vampire being present no more that five miles from human occupation for a prolonged period of time. Plus, to add to that, they only had the manor for a fortnight, hardly a “prolonged period.” So they had not broken any treaties with the party: neither human nor vampire.

Conclusion: it was a declaration of war by the humans. And no vampire would allow such an infraction against their species to go unpunished. The humans would get the war they so desired and Levi would kill the boy with the green eyes himself. 

“Erwin!” Levi called, slamming open the doors of a forest cabin exactly thirty miles from the nearest town. This was their place to hide - his, Erwin, Hange, and Mikes - when they couldn’t be bothered with any questions from the vampire council who, by this point were hounding them with questions on the massacre’s details. Erwin was seated at a circular dining room table, papers strewn about in front of him. His hair was immaculately slicked back though the dark bags under his eyes indicated his energy level was far from perfect. Hange was beside him, equally terribly looking.

“Have you found out anything about the brat?” Levi inquired, pulling out a chair for himself and flopping down to prepare himself for or the lack of answers. Erwin ran a hand through his hair, only succeeding to tousle it rather than straighten it back. He pushed a few documents to Levi to back up the information he was about to give.

“Eren Jaegar” Erwin stated. “Shiganshina native born to Kalura and Grisha Jaegar in 1912, presumed dead at eight years old when the district burned down.”

Levi glanced down at the paper that Erwin had shoved his way; it was a measly copy of a birth certificate, the original state of the copy clear by the uneven tone and the image of a tear at the middle of the piece. The black haired man raised an eyebrow, making a face close to a sneer as he listened to the blond’s information.

“It can’t be,” he rebutted. “The brat wasn’t human, so if he died at eight then he’d look just as old when we saw him. Vampires don’t age and that kid wasn’t eight.”

Erwin sighed, taking back the certificate to reveal grainy images in the pile of images under it. Each one was dated at least a decade maybe two apart with the same boy - the green eyed, filthy murderer, Levi thought - running around in each image though his body was rarely the focus of it. However, in every individual picture, the brat had aged at least a couple years - the most recent being an image of ten years ago with the boy looking no more than fourteen.

That shouldn’t have been possible.

“Hange and I already went though that argument, Levi.” Erwin commented. “We thought it was a possibility that he survived the fire and was turned afterwards but, you can see that in each picture -“

“he ages,” Levi completed.

Erwin continued. “The pictures were taken by the council so we can trust their validity. They were taken after the murders of prominent members of the human defence faction.”

“who were considered to be the top militants of our kind,” Hange added solemnly. “Whatever this boy is, we’re certain that he has powers equal to ours. Why he’s with the humans is currently unknown.”

She let out her own sigh, grumbling. “If only we could capture him, I’d cut him up and discover what he has to hide.”

Levi almost chuckled at that, even at the verge of exhaustion Hange would always have the energy to think of possible experiments.

“You’ll have your chance soon enough, Hange,” Levi growled. “I’m going to find him and tear his limbs off. If his healing powers are just as good as ours then you’ll have ample time to play with him when I’m done.”

Hange looked up at the black haired vampire, with a grin and mirth floating behind her eyes. “I’ll be sure to play with him plenty.”

Erwin interrupted with a cough, putting down the rest of his documents to examine Levi with a stern expression. “Are you alright with that, Levi? From what you told us of your interactions with him, there’s a possibility that he could be your intended.”

Levi snorted at that possibility while Hange’s shoulders drooped. Apparently to the blond and brunette vampire, the fact that Levi had found the brat’s blood tastier than the bags of hospital issued frozen liquid was an indicator of the boy being Levi’s intended.

His mate.

Life-partner.

Signigicant other.

A load of bull-shit, to be honest.

“I’ll be sure to sew him back up Levi.”

Levi snorted even louder, glaring darkly at the two vampires. “The chances of that happening is impossible. So what I found his blood tasty. Who cares?”

“The fact that you’ve never drunk anything other than the blood approved from the vampire bureau before. And even then, you’ve always said that they were only ‘sufficient.’” Erwin stated, glancing his friend in the eye. Levi’s expression was contorted in a grimace.

“That kid killed a lot of us during my birthday. I’m never going to forgive him for that.” Levi growled. “I’m going to kill him the next time I see him and then all this significant other crap is going to turn into nonsense”

Levi stood up then, striding out with his shoulders reared back. Even if he didn’t know where the brat was right now, he knew one thing: the kid was a part of the garrison. So when they attack, he’d be there. And Levi was going to be there to gut him. The brat would never see the light of day again.

 

RiREN

Eren banged the back of his head against the bars of his cage methodically, ignoring the pain. He could feel sticky liquid that he knew to be blood run down his neck and clump his bis hair together, but he didn’t care. He was supposed to be outside - he had been promised. The humans had sworn.

They lied. 

And all that was left of Eren was poorly bandaged arms and a self-inflicted gash at the back of his head. None of them cared though - why would they? It’s not as if he would die. Everything would heal within the week; after all, he was not human. He didn’t need the same care that humans had.

Eren vaguely registered the sound of metal moving as a tray was placed beside him. His head was swimming from the self-inflicted injury, his eyes only taking in the brightest or darkest of colours around him. He mumbled a quick thank you, knowing that if it was Pixis or Verman, the men would take away his meal if they didn’t achieve their sick fetish of gratitude from him. 

The smell of blood wafted towards his nose, combining with the odour of his own injuries. Tangy and metallic - no doubt that’s how it would taste as well. In a distant thought, the hybrid remembered the taste of cocked bread and stew swirling in a warm, familiar crimson liquid.

Levi.

That man had tasted of everything he had forgotten. The meals his mother had cooked; the candies his father would give him; the air of freedom that could never be truly his again. The image of grey eyes burning with hatred assaulted his mind, clearing the swirl of colours that had clouded his thoughts.

Levi. Levi. Levi.

Eren patted the floor beside him until he reached the small vial of blood that the humans provided. He downed it in one go, shuddering at his accurate prediction of the liquid’s taste. It was cold. He wanted warm blood again: Levi’s blood. Vampire blood.

Eren closed his eyes. sinking down onto the cement. With a dim mind, he went through the memories of his last venture outside, noting every detail that surrounded the raven haired vampire. The way he carried himself so confidently and the way his eyes pierced into every piece of surrounding. Eren delved deeper into his memories: into every blow and stab that he and Levi exchanged. He saw the vampire’s desperation to protect his own kind. How every time Eren would advance towards another blood-sucking monster, Levi would appear in front of him.

The hybrid drifted to darkness, with a single conclusion on his mind: if he wanted to see Levi again, he would need to kill more vampires.

And Eren was okay with that.

Because it was something he was good at.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of Eren and Levi interaction in this chapter. And the huge hiatus and short chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

There wasn't a single moment in Eren's memory where he didn't know the feeling of blood. Blood on his hands, blood on his face, in his hair, even on his feet. Everywhere, his body remembered the heat of slick crimson liquid that cooled almost instantaneously when splattered. The stickiness of it, the way it powdered and cracked into a maroon colour: everything. He remembered it all.

At parts of Eren's memory, the feeling of the life-giving substance was accompanied by pain: eight years old with rocks flung his way. Cries of 'monster' and screams of 'mother' that came with a sight that was trickled with red.

Other times, it'd be of cold, hunger and fear. A cage made of steel with nothing to accompany him but his clothing. Vials of crimson liquid pushed through the bars by three feet long sticks. Or with fingers trembling as they watched him warily as though he was an animal about to attack.

It was only recently that Eren found that blood could be paired with pleasure and comfort. The former had been found on a night filled with the scent and shrieks of fear - in a man that Eren was sure wanted his head. Levi, he heard his name to be. How warm his blood had been when it flowed down his throat, sweet and tangy - bringing back memories of warmth that he had long forgotten.

The latter was something he was only feeling now, sun bathing his pale skin through a window as slick liquid dried on his hands.

"Mikasa!" Eren called, twisting to turn to the taller girl just a few steps away from him. She had her gun out, surveying the sitting room of an old, well-kept home for any threats. A television played static at one wall while limp corpses lay on a pink couch, staring at the ceiling. No dust was yet settled there, but if there had been, the red that stained once beige walls would have been enough to disturb them. Along with the boy who smiled at the centre of it all, grasping another corpse in his hand - a girl that seemed to be of equal age to her murderer.

"It's all done, right? I finished it really quick!" Eren said, smiling as he brought up the body, showing it off like a trophy. Its throat was slit, blood still oozing along the cut that had almost severed the girl's head. Mikasa could barely tell that the girl's hair had been blond beyond the blood - the red had stained everywhere; even former blue eyes had faded to milky white pools as drops coloured them crimson. They stared at her, pleading:

_Save me, save me._

But Eren's expression was the same. Pleading and crazed.

_Tell me. Save me. Free me. Love me._

And Eren was more important.

"That's right, Eren. We're done here," she replied, schooling her face into a small smile. The years with the garrison had taught her enough to keep her stomach strong against such carnage. She needn't much effort to force herself to smile. "We still have four hours left. Pixis says that we aren't allowed in the shopping districts but the less populated areas should be fine."

Eren's smile at that moment belied the scene of blood around him. His eyes, so unnatural in the way they glowed green, blue and sometimes gold shown with happiness. A happiness bought with blood on his hands.

"Really?! Armin's coming with us too, right?" The half-breed bounced, dropping the corpse unceremoniously onto the carpet. Blood seeped into a dark stain, the force of the fall causing the liquid to splash as the girl's neck tore further.

_They were vampires,_  Mikasa told herself.  _They were vampires so its alright. Just monsters._

"Yes, we'll meet Armin soon. We just have to get a little cleaned up," whispered Mikasa, knowing Eren's hearing would allow him to hear the soft words. She extended her hand. "Let's go, Eren."

Eren stared at the limb being extended to him - Mikasa's hand was clean of blood and dirt. In comparison, his was was dirtied with flakes of maroon crumbling in his palm…

"I can go out by myself, Mikasa! I'm not helpless!" announced Eren with a scrunched up face. He strode past the girl, grabbing her by the cloth of her elbow and dragging them towards the door. His hand was on the knob and he had it half-turned before his nose twitched. Instincts overtook him and he shoved the human out of the way of a iron pole that stabbed through the door and straight into his torso. It pulled out just as quick, leaving him coughing up blood. The half-breed whimpered, pain once again intermixing with the crimson liquid. His adrenaline rush from the prior murder had already faded and the boy was feeling every bit of the agony.

"Eren!" he heard Mikasa exclaim - already, the girl had her weapon out, pointed to the door. Her other hand held a radio, quick muttering demanding for back up silenced only by an avid concentration on the barrier that separated them from the threat.

"Levi, don't you dare break that door down."

A deep male voice resonated from the behind the wood, followed by a female's. "C'mon Erwin, let the kid have his fun!"

"Shut it, Hange!" growled another male. The two garrison members inside the home tensed as the door shuddered as if kicked. However, the door knob began to turn slowly to reveal a familiar trio of vampires from a bloodied Christmas night. The moment they were in view, the sound of a pistol fired but before the bang could even echo, the trio was gone from the door.

"Mikasa! Run!" Eren spat the words out with his blood, coughing harder when he felt a sharpness, thicker than his current injury pierce him. He shut his eyes out of sheer reflex before forcing them back open to see a blond vampire simply standing behind Mikasa as turned both right and left - blind to her threat. A brunette was by the pink couch, placing her palms on the eyes of the corpses, closing them before she began to crouch down by girl on the carpet. The other one -  _Levi Levi Levi, he knew by the smell_ \- was behind him, his hand waving at Eren's face from it's home in his abdomen.

Eren could only stare at the hand in confusion. It was stained with blood and the pain was singeing every nerved in his body. But Levi was there. Last time he had seen Levi, the blood had been paired with comfort. It had been tinged with familiarity, even pleasure. So why was there pain?

"Le…vi," Eren spluttered, twisting himself weakly as he turned to grey eyes that were flaming at him with disgust and hatred. Despite himself, the half-breed tried to reach a hand towards the vampire. He only felt himself shoved to the ground with a boot twisting into the wound. Then Eren felt himself fly - kicked towards the bloodied object that he had dropped only moments before.

"Look at that, you disgusting piece of shit!" Levi was snarling. "That girl was just turned three days ago! She's only sixteen!"

Eren stared wide eyed at the face that had been moulded into an expression of peace. Blood had been wiped away from the mouth, making the girl seem as though she was only sleeping. But Eren knew from the lack of heartbeat that she was not. She was dead, just like all the vampires that he had killed before her. This was normal. It was familiar. That's why Eren didn't understand the reason behind Levi's anger - all he felt was pain. All he thought was  _pain._

And he needed blood to make it go away. Eren could feel his fangs extend at the musky scent of cooling liquid fouling the room. It was a scent he was used to - the same smell of bottles and bags of blood given to him in his cage. And there was a blood bag right in front of him. In a moment of desperation, Eren opened his mouth, propelling himself forward to bite into the unmoving body of his victim. He gave a quick suck, feeling his wound begin to close as the blood moved down his esophagus. It wasn't much, but it was enough for him to push himself up and away from his offender, snarling.

By now, Mikasa was on the carpet, only sleeping Eren knew the slow heartbeats echoing from her. The blond saw him look at the girl.

"We don't kill humans if we don't have to," he said, a kind expression on his face. It belied the scent of wariness that caught Eren's nose. The blond sighed, gesturing to the corpse that Eren had just bit into. "We were simply called in to fill in some paperwork for the newly turned." He shook his head regretfully as he mourned for the girl and the two corpses on the couch, both of which were vampires as well.

"Ahhhh! Look at those fangs! They're the same length of the average vampire! I wonder if they're made of the same material as us or if they're as weak as humans?!" the brunette began to muse with excitement. "Can I break them off? Can I? Can I?"

Eren snarled again, unsheathing his knives from their places on his hips. He jumped first towards the blond, still in sound mind to know he needed to get Mikasa out of danger. The man bared his fists in a fighters stance, keeping himself grounded. Eren's knife had been only inches away when Levi swiped his own knife at the half-breed, forcing him to redirect his attack in order avoid metal to his arm.

"It takes the garrison a total of twenty minutes to arrive after being called. Especially cases like this when they didn't expect any added threat," Levi stated with a tilt of his head. His gaze never left Eren for a second. "It's been five. Fifteen is enough to slit your throat and hang you from the ceiling."

The things that Eren feared were minimal: unending darkness, the leaders of the Garrison, and the deaths of his friends. That's why his reaction to Levi's threat was minimal as well - he could not comprehend that the man was something worth fearing. A backward jump towards the wall behind him, Eren sprung his legs to propel himself at the blond at an even greater speed. Like before, his knife was only inches away…

Pain shot from Eren's side and he lost the momentum, dropping to the floor and rolling to the farther wall. With every rotation, the half-breed could feel more pain dig into his sides. It was only when he slammed into the plaster that Eren had the time to notice twelve needles digging into his ribs. He was surprise at the sheer number of them embedded into his side in a vertical fashion. Fortunately, none of them were deep - they had all been blocked by bone. The brunette was standing, still over the blonde-haired corpse, more needles between each her fingers.

"Erwin, look!" the brunette jumped up and down excitedly. "Looks like he has the same amount of ribs that both we and humans do!"

Erwin nodded placidly at the girl. "Yes, it seems so, Hange."

Trembling fingers reached for the needles, trying to pick them out one by one. But time seemed to have slowed, and before Eren reached even one, brown eyes were staring into his own. "Whoooa," Hange exclaimed. "Those needles had enough tranquillizer to put three grown vampires to sleep! You're still conscious, how is that? Tell me!"

"Enough, Hange." Levi re-entered the scene, bending over to examine the half-conscious boy. "You'd better thank your luck stars, you fucking brat. We've been told to bring you in alive."

Eren saw Levi sneer at him as he turned away. "Fucking disgusting."

Then he blacked out, his last senses being that of Levi's voice. Familiar words were spat at him with such hatred that Eren had only known from humans in the past.

"Filthy monster," were the words. And they echoed over in his head even as his consciousness was gone.

_Filthy monster. Filthy monster. Filthy monster._

* * *

When Eren woke up, he thought that he'd been placed back in his cage at the garrison. The cement floors and steel bars surely matched, but the scent of a forest differed from the smell of human fear that had been a constant at his home. That, and he couldn't move - the humans had put shackles on his hand and feet when he'd misbehaved, yes, but there had always been a decent length of chain. They believed that if they made it too short, the rigidity would make it easier to break. That, and the thought that if they gave the monster a little bit of freedom, he'd be quelled.

"Ah. He's waking up! Can I start with the experiments now?" Hange's voice cleared the haze in Eren's mind as he strained his neck to find where it was from. Strangely, he had to move his head up, meaning he was suspended on some sort of vertical surface. A wall maybe?

"Oi, you lazy cunt! Wake up!"

Eren's musing was interrupted with pain to his gut, something familiar given the recent events. He coughed, adrenaline rushing to him as he noticed himself tied to pole embedded in the ground inside, unsurprisingly, a cage. For once though, he wasn't alone. Levi was there, along with the brunette, Hange. The half-breed saw Levi lift his leg, barely registering as it came down to his face, a tooth flying out.

Hange went over to pick up the tooth, eyeing it as though it was a diamond. She pocketed it.

"Up yet?" Levi smirked at the gurgle of pain from Eren's lips. "No?" He slammed his foot onto the half-breed's shin, revelling at a crack. This time Eren screamed, his entire body tensing as bone broke through his skin. Blood was trickling down his leg and within his wavering consciousness, Eren almost thought that Levi was looking at the liquid with hunger.

"I'm…awake," Eren rasped, his years of being a part of the Garrison had taught him to answer concisely. If not, the days of punishment without food were even worse than the torture that came before the starvation.

Eren watched through dimming vision as both vampires took a step away from him to observe his form fully.

"Better not go back to fucking sleep," he heard Levi mutter. Another set of steps entered the room that Eren had surmised to be much bigger than the cage. While the floor was indeed made of cement, the walls were constructed with logs, giving the space a more homier feel than his usual abode.

"Is he awake?" Erwin asked, peering from behind the bars before motioning for the other two to stand beside him. Eren almost protested, wanting to scream:  _no. No, don't leave me please, it hurts._

But then, weren't they the ones who caused the pain?  _I don't care_ , Eren's mind argued.  _I can take pain as long as they don't leave me alone. They won't leave me in the dark if they're with me._

"Hello, Eren," the blond one addressed. "Do you know where you are?"

Eren grit his teeth, shaking his head. He didn't like this man: the calmness of his countenance reminded him sorely of Pixis. However, unlike the balding man, this one had an air of authority tinged with a solemn edge. Pixis didn't have that - there was always a facade of triviality with him.

"This is a cabin away from both human and vampire settlements," revealed Erwin. "We're keeping you here until we decide if we should hand you to the council or kill you."

Eren swallowed, tasting his own blood from his lost tooth. "…Mikasa?"

"She was left where she was. Most likely she has already been found by the Garrison."

The half-breed allowed his shoulders to sag in relief. He wasn't given long to relax however, as Erwin got right to the heart of his visit.

"Tell me: what are you?"

Craning his head, the boy glared at the the older man. He didn't answer because surely, he thought,  _surely they already knew._  It wasn't exactly a secret - what he was.

"He asked you a question, pea-brain," Levi growled. Erwin raised a hand to silence him.

"Eren. What we do with you after this is completely dependant on your answer."

"Half…" Eren answered, spitting out blood.

"Half what, Eren?" pressed Erwin.

The boy gave the elder another look, labelling the blond as a stupid creature. "Half-blood…can't you tell?"

All the humans could. They told him: he wasn't human, that much was obvious. But, according to them, he wasn't exactly vampire either.

Eren blinked at the trio of vampires, noting the brown-haired one had a look of pure contemplation and delight. Erwin had schooled his face to the point in was unreadable while Levi…still had the scowl that never left his face. However, the raven's eyes were just slightly wider - almost as though he was surprised.

The three of them stayed like that for a good minute, before Erwin motioned them to leave. They left Eren alone in the locked cage, still chained to the pole. He watched their backs as they shut the door of the room, the light cutting off as the last body stepped out. It was dark. Nothing moved, nothing made a sound. There was only silence and darkness. Not even with the Garrison had the half-breed ever been left alone without a guard.

Eren closed his eyes, pretending that Mikasa and Armin were just outside the bars. He pretended to hear the sound of their breathing. The sound of Armin's voice as he read a book softly.

He almost succeeded in deluding himself when the strength of the silence came back to him.

_How long_ , Eren wondered,  _were they going to be away?_

_How long until the garrison finds me?_

_How long until I can finally go outside?_

_How long until the darkness ends?_

A cruel part of Eren's brain told him that it would last forever. Because that was what monsters like him deserved. And he knew it to be true because all humans said so. Even Levi did, Eren heard.

He was nothing more than a  _filthy monster._

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry, this chapter is a little shorter than the other two. I just needed to finish this scene as a prelude to the big things.
> 
> Comments are nice.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, so this is my first SNK fic. Hopefully the characters aren't too OOC or what not. Let me know what you think.


End file.
